Northland pulls KRCR Channel 7 off air in Siskiyou; affiliate out of Oregon takes its spot

Northland Communications has pulled KRCR Channel 7 in Redding from its lineup, leaving thousands of Siskiyou County TV viewers watching the ABC affiliate in Medford, Ore.

Contract talks between Northland and KRCR broke off and the station was taken off the air Dec. 31, at the end of the last three-year contract.

Federal Communications Commission Rules established in 1993 gave local and out-of-area stations the right to compensation from cable and satellite companies for distributing their programming. The retransmission consents typically require a new agreement every three years.

Despite its good faith negotiations with KRCR management, Northland couldn't reach an agreement, the cable company said in a news release.

According to FCC regulations and the demands of KRCR, Northland removed the KRCR signal, the release said.

"This is an unusual situation as Northland successfully reached continued carriage agreements with 61 other broadcast stations in Northland's eight-state footprint," said Jack Dyste, Northland's chief operating officer, in the release.

KRCR general manager Andrew Stewart said the station has asked Northland for less than 3 cents per day per subscriber for the right to broadcast the ABC signal over the air.

"What we are asking for is well below the industry norm in terms of what we expect to be compensated for the right to carry our signal," Stewart said.

"We have come to an agreement with all the cable companies in our area. Northland is the only company that we were unable to come to an agreement with."

The contract dispute between Northland and KRCR does not affect people who get their TV via satellite through such carriers as Dish Network and DirecTV.

Stewart estimates KRCR's signal was broadcast to about 4,000 Northland cable viewers in the Yreka and Mount Shasta areas before the station was taken off the air. He did not know how many people watch KRCR via satellite in Siskiyou County.

"I will tell you satellite viewing, in general in our area, represents over 50 percent of the viewership. That's Dish and Direct (TV) combined," Stewart said.

The amount standing between an agreement with Northland and KRCR is "a matter of pennies," said Stewart, who thinks the likelihood is good of a new contract getting signed soon.

"We have heard from viewers who have clearly told us that they have no desire to watch Oregon TV," Stewart said.

Siskiyou County is part of the Medford, Ore., TV market as defined by FCC rules, while the Redding and Chico markets are not part of the Siskiyou County designated market area, or DMA, according to Northland Cable.

Vince Reinig, Northland's general manager for Siskiyou County, said the company has invested "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to construct remote communication sites, microwave links, and fiber networks to air California stations to its viewers.

"We made these expenditures because KRCR's signal is not capable of direct off-air reception using an antenna in Siskiyou County due to the surrounding mountainous terrain," Reinig said in the company's news release.